The Cathedral Lectures were set up by Dr Angela Mackie
in 2000 in the Selwyn Library of Bishops Court, moving to the
Undercroft of the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Parnell,
in 2001. Dr Mackie's plan was, and is, to develop, in stages,
courses that encompass the classic Liberal Arts as promulgated
during the Renaissance and which originated in the time of
Plato.
Subjects covered at present include the history and theory of all
the major periods of Western Art as well as Italian language and
culture. The Italian course has five levels. Future courses will
include English literature, Music, Philosophy and Bioethics.
European education developed within the Church during the Middle
Ages and it therefore seemed logical to choose an academic setting
for the lectures from the ecclesiastical environs of the Cathedral.
The Church in Rome was also one of the earliest patrons of the fine
arts and so it is most appropriate that the first courses
introduced were Art History and Italian.
As universities seem to be moving further and further away from
belief in education for its own sake and develop more and more
courses with a specific career or meal-ticket in mind, a vacuum in
the arts has grown. An appreciation of our Western culture, and
with this an understanding of past values and ethics, form the
basic raison d'être for these courses. They are informative, they
are interesting, and they are great fun!